The next day…
Jack peeked in the hospital room. Elizabeth was asleep and Carter was on her chest dozing. He stepped back out.
"Okay guys. They are sleeping so we need to be quiet."
Autumn and Brady nodded and the three went in. Autumn's eyes got big as she hurried over to the bed. "That Carter?" she whispered loudly.
Elizabeth's eyes opened and she smiled. "Hi," she said quietly. "Yes, Autumn. This is your brother."
"How…how he come out?"
Elizabeth smiled at Jack. "It wasn't easy."
Brady stood back a little and stared. "Brady? Do you want to hold him?"
"That's okay. He's so little. I don't want to hurt him or something."
Jack had Brady sit and then he took Carter from Elizabeth. "You won't hurt him. Promise."
Jack put Carter's tiny head in the crook of Brady's arm and moved his other arm so he was supporting his body. "See? Easy. You're doing great."
"He's pretty cute. He looks like you, Mom. He has curls."
"He does. I think he has your dad's mouth though."
"Yeah I guess."
"Can I…hold him?" Autumn asked.
"Of course, sweetie." Jack helped Autumn climb up next to Elizabeth on the bed. Brady stood and carefully passed the baby to Jack who placed him in Autumn's arms.
"When are you coming home, Mom?" Brady asked.
"Later today I think."
Brady watched as Autumn held their brother and snuggled against Elizabeth. He felt a little left out.
"What's wrong, Brade?" she asked.
He shrugged and hung his head.
"You can tell me."
"Its just…weird when you aren't home."
"I miss you too." She lifted her arms and he stepped over to hug her.
Jack saw the change in Brady. He needed time with his mom. "Hey, pumpkin, let's go to the gift shop to get Carter a present."
"Okay." Elizabeth took the sleeping baby and silently thanked Jack as he and Autumn walked out.
"Brady, why don't you come sit here next to me?" He shrugged. "Please?" He waited a moment and then sat where Autumn had been. "You know, I'm so lucky to have two handsome sons."
"You still love me, right? Like before?"
"Of course, I do, honey. Nothing will ever change that. Having Carter now just gives us all more to love." She kissed his hair and smiled as he scooted down, his head on her arm. "You know, you're his big brother. You get to teach him some really cool stuff."
"Like basketball?"
"Yeah."
"And skateboarding?"
"When he's older, yes," she laughed. "But you also get to teach him how to be respectful and kind to Autumn and how to be responsible. You're great at those things."
Brady gently pressed his lips to Carter's soft curls. "I've got your back, Carter. Big brother is here."
Later that evening, Elizabeth and Carter were released from the hospital. When they got home, Grace and Julie had prepared a casserole with the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.
Jack carried Carter's seat in and helped Elizabeth to the chaise part of the couch, unbuckling Carter and handing him to her. "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah. I'm going to feed him before I eat though."
"I'll get you some water."
"Thanks, honey."
Elizabeth got Carter situated and covered herself with a small blanket for modesty. She smiled as she felt his little mouth working to get his sustenance and his little fingers resting on her breast. There was nothing that compared to this feeling of love and joy.
Jack brought her a bottle of water and a plate of food, setting it next to her on the table.
"How's he doing?"
She moved the blanket so he could see. "Great." Jack smiled and then kissed her.
"I've never seen anything more beautiful than you feeding our son." His eyes filled with tears.
"I love you."
She touched his cheek and smiled. "I love you too."
About ten minutes later, she handed him to Jack for burping duty and was able to eat a bit herself. Then she resumed feeding him on her other side.
"Mom?" Brady came in and sat down next to her.
"Yeah, bud."
"Can I hold him again?" Brady felt big and important when he held his little brother.
"Yep. I will let you burp him when he's done eating."
"Burp him?"
"Yep. Really little babies need help burping when they are young. Eventually, they can do it themselves but for now, we need to help."
"How do I do that?"
"I'll show you."
A bit later, she handed a very sleepy Carter to Brady and showed him how to hold him up on his shoulder and how hard to pat his back until he got a hearty burp. Brady laughed and kissed his hair. "Good job. Guess I don't need to teach you how to do that."
Elizabeth saw that Brady seemed comfortable so she got up. "I'm going to use the bathroom, sweetie. If you need help with him, get Julie or Nana, alright?"
"Okay, Mom."
Elizabeth walked past the kitchen to the upstairs bathroom where she found Autumn. "Hi, baby. What are you up to?"
She shrugged.
"Why aren't you down with Nana and Julie?"
"Don't know."
"Are you feeling okay?"
She shrugged again.
"Are you sad?"
"Yeah. Hold me?"
Elizabeth took her hand and led her into the nursery. She sat down in the rocking chair and allowed Autumn to climb up herself. "Tell me, Autumn. What's on your mind?"
"I want…you."
"I'm here. You have me."
"You love….Carter."
"I do but I love you and Brady too."
"How you love….us?"
"Do you mean how do I have enough love for three of you?"
"Yeah."
"Remember when the twins were here? We had enough love for them and you. It's the same way. God makes our hearts so that there is always enough love for everyone."
"Oh."
"Do you understand?"
"Yeah."
Elizabeth held her for a few more minutes before she really needed to use the bathroom. "Sweetie, can you please go make sure that Annie has water and then let her outside?"
"Okay, Mama."
"Thank you."
She headed into the bathroom and then since she didn't hear crying, she tried to find Jack. She couldn't find him though upstairs so she went to the kitchen. She gave her mom and sister a hug. "Do you know where Jack is?"
"He is in the living room with Brady and Carter, I think."
Jack was sitting on the couch, Brady next to him, holding a still sleeping Carter. "Hey, babe," Jack said, patting the cushion on the other side of him. "Where's pumpkin?"
"Here…Daddy." Autumn came over and sat on Jack's lap and snuggled in.
Jack smiled. He had his wife and all three of his kids with him and that felt perfect. "You know I love all of you, right?" They all said yes. "That will never change. You are all I will ever need to be happy."
Jack's phone rang so he grabbed it and answered. "Hello?"
"Hi, Jack. It's Abigail."
"Hey there. How are you?"
"Just fine. Do we have a new baby yet?"
"We do. I'll send you a picture. Carter William Thornton."
"Great! Congratulations to all of you!"
"Thanks, Abigail."
"Hey, the reason I am calling is we have a court date for Brady's adoption. December 5th."
"Great! Thanks so much."
"You're welcome. I'll have to come visit you guys soon. I want to meet the newest Thornton."
"You're always welcome, Abigail."
Jack hung up and smiled at Brady. "Guess what, Brade."
"What?"
"December 5th you officially become a Thornton."
"That's his adoption date?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yep. Abigail just told me."
"Cool!" Brady said a little too loudly, making Carter stir. "Oops. Go back to sleep, little guy."
Julie walked out and gave everyone hugs. "I'm going to get going, everyone."
"Where are you going?" Elizabeth wondered.
"Out," she smiled. "I have a date."
A few days later, Jack returned to work. He was working in the outskirts of Riverton with Jesse and his new employee, Mike Hickam.
"Hey, guys. How's it going so far?" They were demolishing a kitchen and dining room for a remodel.
"Good. Except we found mold and evidence of mice," Jesse told him.
"Okay, we can get the mold guys in here to clean that up and maybe an exterminator?"
"Yeah. Hey, how's the new little guy?"
"He's great. Doesn't sleep a lot at night but that's alright. I've heard it's a phase."
Mike snickered. "Not for my daughter. She had her days and nights mixed up for months."
"Great. Wait, you have a daughter?"
"Yeah. She's five."
"What's her name, man?" Jesse asked, clapping him on the back.
"Alissa."
"I didn't know you were married, Mike," Jack told him as he started removing a backsplash.
"Was. My wife died about four years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Thanks. Liss and I are doing well, though."
"That's good. Had to be hard raising her alone."
"It's been hard, but mostly good. My parents live with us so I have built in babysitters."
"That's a blessing."
"It is. And I recently started seeing someone and Liss really likes her."
"Another blessing," Jack said.
"Yeah, I agree."
"My daughter, Autumn, is six. Maybe she and Alissa would like to get together sometime."
"Yeah. That would be good. She's shy so she has trouble making friends."
"Well, Autumn isn't very shy. I bet they will hit it off."
So that evening, Jack told Autumn about Alissa and she immediately wanted to have her over to meet her new little brother. So the next day, Jack mentioned it and invited Mike and Alissa over for dinner so the girls could play.
Jack had been correct. As soon as the girls met, they joined hands and went off to see the new baby. Jack took Mike in the kitchen and handed him a beer.
"Thanks. Something smells really good."
"It's one of the casseroles that Elizabeth's mom and sister made. I think this one has pulled pork in it and a bunch of cheese which is always good in my book."
Mike chuckled and sipped his beer. "Me too."
Brady walked down the stairs. "Dad?"
"Hey, Brady. This is Mike. He works with me and Jesse."
"Hi," Brady said with a smile. "Um, Dad, I need help with my homework. Mom's too busy. Can you help me?"
"Sure, bud. What are you working on?"
"Long division. It's so hard."
"Oh boy. Mom is definitely better at that than I am, but I can try."
"I'm pretty good at math," Mike offered.
"Cool."
So the three guys sat at the dinner table and tackled the math until the doorbell rang.
"Aunt Julie…is here," Autumn said running towards the door, Alissa following behind her.
"Mike?" Julie said as she walked in the dining area, Alissa and Autumn right beside her.
"Julie?"
"You two know each other?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Mike told him. "This is who I'm seeing."
"This is who I went out with the other night," Julie chimed in.
"Wow, small world."